How important is your backup?

  So many businesses think they are doing the right thing when it comes to backing up their company data. When it comes right down to it though, very few are really prepared for a catastrophic data loss. So what is “Best Practice” when it comes to your data? Unfortunately there is no one solution that fits all, but we can certainly talk about principles that work whatever your business size.

1. What data should I back up?
Imagine waking up this morning to find that all your data was gone? What data if missing would cripple your business? Consider the following list.
Business Accounting Information (Debtors/Creditors)
Company Email and Websites
Employee Information (Wages/Super/Leave)
Technical and Company Documentation (Manuals/Letters/email)
Insurance will cover the loss of Equipment, but usually not the data!
Even though adequately insured, would your business recover from a complete data loss?  

2. Duplication
Any good backup system will provide more than one copy of your data. It is imperative that the copies of your data are not kept together. I came across a business recently where the office was right next to an area where flammable liquids (petrol) was used. The server and all their backups were stored in a small office less than 10 feet away from these flammable liquids. If even a small fire started, it is very likely that all their data would be lost.
ALWAYS keep an off-site copy of your data, and rotate it weekly so that in the event of a total loss, you only need to lose/recreate a single week of data at worst. Small businesses may be able to fit all critical data on a memory stick, and larger businesses may be using removable Hard Disk Drives, CD/DVD solutions or Tape or Robotic Tape Library solutions.

3. Auditing
No matter how often you back up, these backups are useless unless they are regularly tested to ensure that the devices are functioning correctly. It is an excellent idea to test your backup by restoring a small amount of data to a different location on your system. If the restore fails, or the data is corrupt, the problem can be rectified without data loss. Backups should really be tested monthly or at a minimum quarterly. How long since you checked yours?

4: Redundancy
Many businesses do not have fault tolerant systems for storing their data in the first instance. Ideally, the primary data storage in your business should be a fault tolerant device such that if a disk drive in the device fails, it alerts staff, but keeps functioning normally. Even though a hard disk has died, the data remains available to the business and when replacement hardware is fitted, it automatically regenerates the data on the new device.
If you already have such hardware, make certain that if a device fails, that it does not fail silently. A good system will emit a loud annoying beep, and email technical staff about the failure. Some systems although capable of doing this have never been configured properly and simply fail without letting anyone in the business know!

If you feel that you may be inadequately protected in this vital area, contact your IT provider urgently. If you don’t currently have reliable IT support, consider contacting the Network Doctor! PH: 0243036981 MOB:0409359422